Biography
CHILDHOOD
Born in London on the 3rd of March 1951, at the age of 9, after seeing Hank Marvin ( the Shadows ) on the Tv, that’s when he decided that he wanted to be a musician.
His first guitar was a Rossetti Lucky 7, and he is self-taught.
BEGINNING OF HIS CAREER
He became professional around the age of 13, playing the clubs and pubs around London and eventually moving all over England and Ireland.
There were some trips to Germany playing the club scene and the American army bases, and a residence in the isle of man.
ARRIVAL IN SWITZERLAND
Around the age of 17, he auditioned for a Swiss band called Spot and came over for
3 weeks, and 50 odd years later, here he is !!!
they toured toured for a few years with quite a bit success and during the recording of our first, (and only) album, he met a French producer by the name of Jaques Denjean who produced some big hits in France, (Christophe,Johnny Haliday,Sylvie Vartan,
And he invited him to play on some of those records. that was his introduction into the session scene in France
THE EIGHTIES
After getting married in England and playing around London again in the late ,70,s
he was invited back to do some sessions in Geneva with a local musician and painter,(Jean Pierre Huser) The studio was Aquarius studios , which was quite something back then and whilst working there he met Patrick Moraz, (Yes, Moody Blues )
They did some albums and gigs together and the studio became his second home !!!
It was during this period that things took of really big and John recorded a whole bunch of hits for the French market, ( Catherine Lara, Hugh Aufray, Richard Cocciante,
Bernard Lavilliers, Marie La Foret,Constantin, Gilbert Montagne, etc…….
ALAIN MORISOD AND DANIEL BALAVOINE
It was around this time that Alain Morisod called John to come and play some demos
with a young French singer named Daniel Balavoine, they did a few demos and the next thing he knew, he was invited to play on the the, (Sauver l,amour,
This was recorded in Scotland in the summer, and become a Hugh hit in France
And the single ,(La Zizza ) was a Hugh hit.
Unfortunately Daniel died in a helicopter crash shortly after and that stopped him in his tracks. he went back to England for a few months to sort himself out, not a good time !!!
CATHERINE LARA
During his time in London, he got a call from Catherine asking him to come play the Olympia in Paris and then a big tour and a new Album. That was a good time.
PATRICK BRUEL
During his time with Catherine he received a call from Mick Lanaro, producer for (Lavilliers) and invited him to come to Toulouse to record an album for a young and upcoming singer (Patrick)
This was the beginning of a long relationship and many ,many gigs and albums
YEARS 2000
Many tours including Henri Des, Catherine Lara , Patrick Bruel,
In 2005 ,he was Introduced to Swiss German rock star GÖLÄ via Walter Keiser , a drummer whom John has worked with for many years.
A dozen albums and many many shows, 2022 he’s playing the Lexigrund stadium in
Zurich, 2 sold out shows, 50,000 people per night, the first Swiss band to ever do so !!
FILM MUSIC
Over the years John has played on many film scores (Alain tanner, Lous Crelier) and in 2012 he was approached by film maker Mathieu Urfer to co write the music for his latest film, (Pause), in 2015 we received the best Swiss Film award of that year .
Also in 2015 he received his Swiss nationality
BALIK FARM STUDIOS
An old friend (Peter Rebeiz) opens his own studio at his farm in Ebersol ,Swiss Germany
And this started a long collaboration doing lots of great recordings, to mention one, his now wife, Jasmin Tamara, remains some of his favourite work !!
OVER 250 ALBUMS
John has played on a very impressive variety of albums over all these years
And he’s not ready to stop ! Most recently he’s collaborated with Bastian Baker, Trauffer, and the up and coming duo from Ireland The Woodgies whom he also taught how to play guitar
FIRST SOLO ALBUM
But more recently , during the covid 19 pandemic, John decides to concentrate on
His first solo project, and as a singer aswell, with a little help from his friends and studio geeks , Jean Louis Bianchina, drums, and Ivan Rougny, bass, and came up with
(LIFE), an album about his life and family.
WHAT NEXT ???
